Biden team keeps hope on Gaza truce despite setbacks

It dials up diplomacy as term nears end, but experts note difficulty of remaining issues

A ceasefire agreement in Gaza, an anonymous US official told reporters, is 90 per cent ready. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu then swiftly called the assessment inaccurate.

But within hours, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken insisted that, indeed, 90 per cent was done.

US President Joe Biden's administration, with a little more than four months left in office, is dialling up its diplomacy for a Gaza deal and remaining publicly optimistic despite weeks of delays and serial setbacks.

A breakthrough could offer a major boost a vaunted "October surprise" to Mr Biden's heir, VicePresident Kamala Harris, in the razor-thin race against Donald Trump for the White House.

Experts, in any case, say the United States has little choice but to keep trying.

Since Israel announced on Sept 1 that Hamas had killed six hostages, including one with US citizenship, the Biden administration has stressed the urgency of a truce, even as Mr Netanyahu - heading a fragile far-right government - has vowed no concessions despite mass protests from Israelis who favour a deal until there is a final "yes" from both sides, the delicately negotiated package to wind down 11 months of bloodshed could break down at any time.

Each day could bring “an intervening event which simply pushes things off and runs the risk of derailing what is a pretty fragile apple cart", he said on Sept 5.